During the meat processing operation, the animal is slaughtered after which the head of the animal is removed for inspection by the United States Department of Agriculture. After inspection, the meat is removed from the head by deboning. The deboning procedure is done in steps. First, cuts are made in the side of the head at the temple thereof to cut the meat away from the head. The person doing this job is referred to as "the templer."
At most plants, the templer must lift the head and turn it to cut both sides of the head. The need to lift the head, which weighs 30 to 40 pounds, and make the cuts puts a tremendous amount of stress on the templer's hands and wrists. In the usual meat processing line, the next step is to force the meat from the sides of the jawbone. A pointed chisel is placed at the base of the jawbone joint and moved back and forth to force the meat from the bone. The continuous repeated arm and hand movement of this job also puts a great deal of stress on the worker's hands and wrists. Now the jawbone can be removed. This is presently usually done by lifting the head onto a saddle-like device. In that position, a wheel with spikes on it separates the jaw from the head. The worker must lift the head into place and then remove the separated jaw and head. This worker is also exposed to hand and wrist stress from the lifting of the head. Workers who regularly perform such jobs often suffer from repetitive stress syndrome and, thus, it is desirable to provide apparatus which overcome the need for lifting the animal heads during processing.